Last September, I posted about the original Swamp Comp, a compilation of unsigned and other acts who gave their approval to the Doomed to be Stoned in a Sludge Swamp blog to have their material posted. As I said then, download blogs aren’t my thing (or I’d have one), but the Sludge Swamp is a valuable resource for people discovering new bands and for those bands looking to promote themselves to a built-in audience. It’s run by good people and they do good work.

Swamp Comp Volume Two is further evidence of their dedication — it’s over seven hours long! Our amigo Mike “Zodiac Lung” Hanson had a personal hand in putting it all together and had the following to say about the undertaking:

The Sludge Swamp is back with the second edition of the very popular Swamp Comp. It was last September that the series made its debut. It has subsequently been downloaded nearly 1,400 times. For too many reasons to list, it has taken far too long to put together volume two. Finally, as a team effort, it has been completed. It is one giant monster. That’s what happens when you wait too long.

Almost eighty bands bring forth over seven hours of music. It is split up into four parts. The first part is closest to the original idea. It includes bands who sent in songs specifically for inclusion on this compilation or bands who answered our call when we personally invited them to be a part of this. The other three parts (the bulk of the compilation) is culled from the Sludge Swamp archives and is comprised of bands that sent their material directly to the Sludge Swamp asking to be posted.

The Sludge Swamp is proud of the relationship it has with the underground and many bands see the Sludge Swamp, due to its popularity, as a good place to get the word out about what they do. I have yet to hear of any Disney style success stories because of being posted at the Swamp, but you never know when Digby Pearson might be reading.

I usually don’t get behind mp3 blogs, mostly because they’ll give you a virus if you’re not careful, but of those working within the stoner/doom genre, Doomed to be Stoned in a Sludge Swamp operate in such a way as to be entirely above board. For example, they dropped an email asking permission before posting my band’s demo way back when. And I’m sure they don’t do that for all the albums they post, but as an unsigned act, it was a great way of promoting the release, because damn near everyone goes there.

Now they’ve taken it to the next level with an original compilation all their own. Appropriately called Swamp Comp Vol. 1, it brings together unsigned groups from all over the doomed spectrum and is basically sampler of bands the site thinks you should check out. And it’s all band-approved, so it’s entirely guilt-free. Hard to beat that. Thanks to those guys for supporting the scene and for keeping the public aware of new acts coming down the pike. For anyone interested, here’s the link to download.